Adventurous Bateleur astounds conservationists

Andre Botha, EWT’s Vultures for Africa Programme Manager

Conservationists from the EWT and its partners, the Chuilexi Conservancy, Niassa Carnivore Project, and WCS/ANAC from the Niassa Special Reserve (NSR) in Mozambique were recently astounded when one of their tracked birds started exploring the wider Mozambique landscape.

On 10 June 2022, an immature female Bateleur Eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus) was trapped and fitted with a GSM tracking unit as part of the work to establish a tracking sample of 23 vultures and other scavenging birds in this beautiful northern Mozambique landscape. Contrary to expectations that this bird would remain within the confines of the NSR, she almost immediately started venturing east from Niassa to the coast, where she spent a significant amount of time in the Quirimbas National Park northeast of the city of Pemba, and even roamed further north into southern Tanzania at times, often returning to Niassa.

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  An immature female Bateleur Eagle being fitted with a GSM tracking unit in June 2022

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  Measuring the bird to establish life stage

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  The adventurous Bateleur's movements across more than 1,000 km

In late January/early February 2023, this pattern of movement significantly altered when the bird started heading southwest, briefly skirting the Malawian border before travelling further south and passing east of Gorongosa National Park, across the Pungwe and Save rivers to where her tracking unit shows she is currently spending time in the Banhine National Park, approximately 1,200 km south of Niassa. This scale of movement is usually associated with migratory species or vultures and is rather unexpected in this less adventurous species, although adults are known to cover considerable distances within their foraging range daily.

This scale of movement emphasises how little we know about the movements of this Endangered species and the need for a more detailed study of its movement biology. As with vultures, a better understanding of Bateleur movements will enable us to identify key staging, foraging and other sites where appropriate conservation action can be focused. We will be keeping a close eye on this bold Bateleur – who knows where she may wander next?